Knitting-machine.



l No. 67I,995. Patented Apr. I6, |90I.

E. J. FRANCK.

KNITTING MA'BHINE.

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No. 67l,995. Patented Apr. I6, |90I. E. J. FRANCK.

KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 4, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT EMIL J. FRANCK, OF COLLINGDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

KNITTINGfMACHINE'.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 671,995, dated April16, 1901.

Application filed January 4, 1901. serial No. 42,056. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL J FRANCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Collingdale, in the county of Delaware and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inKnittingfMachines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improvement which is applicable tothe machine shown and described in my Patent No. 656,538, dated August21, 1900, and in which machine certain parts,which may be called strippers, operate upon the needle-bits so as to cause them to engage anddisengage the reciprocating carriers and to thereby fashion the work.

The object of the present invention is to prevent accidents andconsequent injuries which might arise by reason of jamming or stickingin the operation of the strippers in respect to the needle-hits and thevarious accessory parts and provisions.

To this end the invention, stated in general terms, comprises theprovision of sectional needle-strippers, of which the parts are normallyconnected together, but are ,automatically released from the drivingpower whenever jamming occurs in such a way that they can be readilyreset.

The nature, characteristic features, and scope of my invention will bemore fully understood from the following description,

taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,forming parthereof,and in which- Figure 1 is a top or plan view illustratingstrippers embodying features of my invention and showing portions of theknitting-machine. Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the same. Fig.3 is a view of one of the strippers as seen from the center of the head.Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a plan and a view of the right-hand endof one of the carriages or slides, Fig. 6 is a View of one of the slideslooking outward from the center of the head. Fig. 7 is a top or planview of one of the racks. Fig. 8 is a view of the rack looking at itsinner curved surface, and Figs. 9 and l0 are respectively a top view anda View looking outward from the center of the head of the stripper.

In the drawings, 1 and 2 are the slotted ways in which the sectionalparts which operate as strippers travel. As shown in the drawings, themachine is illustrated as provided with a tucker 8, carried by a plate4, which also travels in these ways. The tucker and its plate aredescribed in my patent above referred to, and they are not an essentialpart of the present invention.

5 is a carriage or slide, which is provided with means, as 6, forcooperation with the tucker when present. This slide or carriage ismovably fitted to the rack 7,and it has movably tted upon it thestripper 8. As shown, the rack is iianged, as at 9, for the slide orcarriage, and the slide or carriage is provided with a seat, as 10, forthe stripper. The slide, the rack, and the stripper are all fitted tomove backward and forward in the ways 1 and 2, and the rack-bars 11serve to propel them.

12 is a bolt mounted in a suitable keeper or opening formed in thecarriage or slide, and it is controlled by a spring out of engagementwith a notch or opening 13 in the rack. However, under normal conditionsthe body of the stripper 8 overlies the end of the bolt and by opposingthe tendency of its spring keeps the bolt in position for locking therack and slide together.

14 is a spring interposed between the stripper and the slide, and itserves to hold the stripper up to its normal work and also to keep thehole 15 in it out of alinement with the inner end of the bolt.

The needle-carriers 0J and b normally move up and down and carry theneedles c with them. As in the machine described in the patent and atproper times the strippers engage the needle-bits. The rack-bars 11shift the strippers for this purpose. In the present invention theoperation is much the same. Under normal conditions the portion of thestripper shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 10 operates upon theneedle-bits, because the stripper is carried along by the spring 14 withthe carriage 5, which in turn is bolted to the rack 7. Should thestripper 8 jam, the spring 14 is overpowered and the stripper 8 lagsbehind the slide or carriage 5. The result of this is that the opening15 in the stripper comes in line with the bolt 12, so that the latterenters the opening under the influence of its spring and is thusWithdrawn from the notch 13. The rack 7 is thus released from IOO theslide 5 and can move on by itself without endangering the safety of anyof the parts of the machine. Obviously the parts may be readily reset byshifting them in the opposite directions.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains that modifications may be made in details Without departingfrom the spirit thereof. Hence I do not limit myself to the preciseconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinabove set forth, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings; but,

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a knitting-machine of the class described a sectional stripperconsisting of a rack, a carriage or slide and stripper proper, and meanscontrolled by the stripper proper and operating to connect anddisconnect the rack and carriage, substantially as described.

2. In a knitting-machine of the type recited a carriage or slideprovided with a springf-v controllcd bolt, a rack equipped forengagement and disengagement with the bolt, and a stripper having springconnection with the carriage or slide and provided with an openingarranged to coperate with the bolt, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a machine ot' the type recited of a rack providedwith ways, a carriage or slide fitted to said Ways and itself providedwith a seat, a strippertted to said seat, a spring-controlled device forlocking the carriage and rack, a spring interposed between the carriageand slide, and means on the slide for releasing the locking device,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

EMIL J. FRANCK.

Witnesses:

W. J. JACKSON, K. M. GILLIGAN.

